Article of jewellery with an element of ornamentation and a method and a tool for manufacturing such an article of jewellery

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to a piece of jewelry, the body ( 2 ) of which has an opening ( 4 ) in which a decorative element ( 5 ), more particularly a precious stone or gemstone, is inserted, wherein a support ( 7 ) for the decorative element ( 5 ) is formed in the opening ( 4 ) of the body ( 2 ) of the piece of jewelry ( 1 ) that receives the decorative element ( 5 ), said support defining the insertion depth of the decorative element ( 5 ) in the opening ( 4 ) of the body ( 2 ) of the piece of jewelry ( 1 ) and supporting a lower edge ( 5′ ) of the decorative element ( 5 ) at least in certain spots. The piece of jewelry ( 1 ) has a holding element ( 10 ) extending at least over part of the perimeter of the opening ( 4 ). According to the invention, the holding element ( 10 ) is formed by rubbing the body ( 2 ) of the piece of jewelry ( 1 ) in the edge area ( 11 ) of the opening ( 4 ) and then compacting the material which has been removed from the edge area ( 11 ) of the body ( 2 ) that surrounds the opening ( 4 ), the holding element ( 10 ) touches a top edge ( 5″ ) of the decorative element ( 5 ) at least in certain spots and the edge area ( 11 ) of the body ( 2 ) of the piece of jewelry ( 1 ) is at least partly beveled.

The invention relates to an article of jewellery, in a body of which anopening is provided in which an element of ornamentation isaccommodated, in particular a precious stone or an ornamenting stone,wherein in said opening of said body of said article of jewelleryaccommodating said element of ornamentation a support for said elementof ornamentation is formed by which the depth of insertion of saidelement of ornamentation in said opening of said body of said article ofjewellery is defined and by which a lower edge of said element ofornamentation is supported at least selectively, wherein said article ofjewellery comprises a securing element extending at least along a partof the circumference of said opening, and a method for manufacturingsuch an article of jewellery, in particular a ring, in a body of whichan opening is provided in which an element of ornamentation isaccommodated, in particular a precious stone or an ornamenting stone,wherein said opening provided in said body of said article of jewelleryafter a first step of said method has a diameter which is smaller than adiameter of said element of ornamentation to be inserted into saidopening, wherein in a subsequent step an upper portion of said openingis formed with a diameter which is equal to or larger than said diameterof said element of ornamentation, so that between said upper portion ofsaid opening with said diameter and a lower portion of said opening withsaid smaller diameter a transition portion serving as a support for saidelement of ornamentation ist formed, that said element of ornamentationis inserted into said opening and set onto said support, whereby in asubsequent step the material of said body of said piece of jewellery iseroded in an area surrounding said opening and that said eroded materialis brought to said element of ornamentation accommodated in said openingof said body, and a tool particularly suited for the implementation ofsaid method.

Articles of jewellery wherein an element of ornamentation, in particulara precious stone, is accommodated in an opening are known. Adisadvantage of the known articles of jewellery is that the element ofornamentation is mostly disposed just at the surface of the body of thepiece of jewellery such that the element of ornamentation accommodatedin the body of the piece of jewellery does not exhibit a spatialappearance and generally is observed as a flat ornamentation.

From GB 20849855 an article of jewellery and a method of the abovementioned kind are known. The viewer of an article of jewellerymanufactured according to the known method should get the impressionthat the element of ornamentation inserted into the opening of the bodyof the article of jewellery—by means of an appropriate design of thearea of the body of the article of jewellery surrounding the article ofjewellery with facets—exhibits a higher optical presence than it wouldbe the case without the afore mentioned design. Hence, by the methoddescribed, the illusion of a larger, optically more present element ofornamentation should be evoked. For this purpose, the British documentsuggests that for manufacturing the facets, the body of the article ofjewellery is fixed in a press comprising a facetting punch and a pressbed acting against it. In order to fix the article of jewellery inposition in the press it is provided that the body of the article ofjewellery at its face opposite to the opening has a circular grooveconcentric with the opening and cooperating with ribs of the of thepress bed. Then a press force acts upon the facetting punch andcold-works the material of the body of the article of jewellerysurrounding the opening in such a way that a force directed towards theelement of ornamentation accommodated in the opening acts upon thismaterial. In this way this material is displaced towards the element ofornamentation and forms a securing element for the piece of jewellery.

With other articles of jewellery wherein the element of ornamentation isprovided in the opening of the body of the article of jewellery moredeeply, the disadvantage occurs that the article of jewellery has to befixed in the opening by a procedure of sticking. This proceeding has thedisadvantage that especially in case of a precious stone the element ofornamentation can be damaged by the glue used or, in case of a “gentlesticking”, is secured in the opening of the body only unsafely, whichparticularly is disadvantageous if an expensive precious stone is usedas an element of ornamentation.

It is the objective of the present invention to develop further anarticle of jewellery of the above mentioned kind in a way that, even ifthe element of ornamentation is accommodated in the opening of the bodynot just superficially, an improved support and an improved opticalpresence is ensured, and to create a method for manufacturing such anarticle of jewellery and a tool particularly suited for theimplementation of the method.

This objective is achieved by the article of jewellery according to theinvention by means that said securing element is formed by reaming saidopening of said body of said article of jewellery in an area surroundingsaid opening and subsequently stabilising the material which was erodedfrom said area surrounding said opening of said body, and that saidsecuring element acts upon an upper edge of said element ofornamentation at least selectively and that said area surrounding saidopening of said body of said article of jewellery is at least partiallybevelled.

An advantageous development of the invention provides that said securingelement is formed extending substantially along the whole circumferenceof said opening. Such a measure has the advantage that therewith aparticularly safe support of said element of ornamentation is formed inthe opening of said body of said article of jewellery.

The method according to the invention provides that the erosion ofmaterial in said area surrounding said opening is executed by reamingsaid area surrounding said opening and that a securing element for saidelement of ornamentation is formed from the such eroded material, suchthat an upper edge of the element of ornamentation is acted upon atleast selectively by said such formed securing element and in this waysaid element of ornamentation is fixed in position in said opening.

An advantageous further development of the method according to theinvention provides that said securing element is formed extendingsubstantially along said whole circumference of said opening of saidarticle of jewellery. Such implementation of said method has theadvantage that therewith a particularly safe support of said element ofornamentation is achieved in said opening. A further advantageousdevelopment of the method according to the invention provides that ameans for protection against twisting, especially a seat, is formed forat least one corner of said element of ornamentation.

A tool particularly suited for manufacturing the piece of jewelleryaccording to the invention excels in that it comprises a cylindrical orconical tool body with at least one reaming element disposed at itsfront portion which has a reaming area extending inclined to the outersurface of said tool body, wherein said tool body comprises an openingfor the reception of said element of ornamentation.

By the measures according to the invention in an advantageous way anarticle of jewellery, a method particularly advantageous for itsmanufacturing and a tool suited in particular for the implementation ofsaid method are created, wherein said article of jewellery according tothe invention has the advantage that a safe support for said element ofornamentation inserted into said opening of said body of said article ofjewellery not just superficially is provided in said opening, too.Another advantage of the countersunk kind of setting of said element ofornamentation rendered possible by the measures according to theinvention is that a surface of said piece of jewellery can be treated(grinded, polished, lapidated, etc.) without any problems and withoutdamaging said element of ornamentation accommodated in said opening ofsaid article of jewellery or said element of ornamentation accommodatedin said opening of said article of jewellery disturbing the procedure oftreatment.

Another advantage of the measures according to the invention is that bythe erosion of the material of said body of said article of jewellery insaid area surrounding said opening with a reaming tool an improvedoptical presence of said element of ornamentation accommodated in saidopening is given. Furthermore it is an advantage of the invention thatthe described method is not limited to a special form of said element ofornamentation. The method according to the invention rather permitssafely inserting elements of ornamentation with a plurality of differentcuts into an essentially circular opening.

Further advantageous developments of the invention are thesubject-matter of the dependent claims.

Further details and advantages of the present invention are given in theembodiment described in the following with regard to the figures. Itshows:

FIG. 1: an embodiment of an article of jewellery,

FIG. 2: a top plan view of the embodiment of FIG. 1,

FIG. 3: a cross section along the line III-III of FIG. 1,

FIG. 4 a-4 e: a schematic view of an embodiment of a method formanufacturing the piece of jewellery, and

FIG. 5: an embodiment of a tool in particular suited for the executionof the method

FIG. 1 shows a section of an article of jewellery 1, in the casedescribed a ring 1′, comprising a body 2, in case of the ring 1′ a ringbar, in the surface 3 of which there is at least one opening 4, in whichan element of ornamentation 5 having a diameter D, is inserted. In thecase described—as apparent in particular from FIGS. 3 and 4 a-4 e—theopening 4 is a through bore, whereby it is also possible to form theopening 4 as a blind hole.

It is also possible that the article of jewellery 1 is not designed as aring 1′ but as a pendant, as jewellery for ears, als a link of a chain,etc. or as an element of ornamentation for a watch or a clock, for awatchband, etc. The term “article of jewellery” therefore has got to beunderstood in its broadest meaning and does not only comprise finishedarticles of jewellery but also parts of such items.

The element of ornamentation 5 preferably is a precious stone, but it isalso possible to use an ornamenting stone or a respective element ofdecoration. Thus the term “element of ornamentation” also has got to beunderstood in its broadest meaning.

As it can be seen particularly from FIG. 1, in the described article ofjewellery 1 the element of ornamentantion 5 is provided in the body 2 ofthe article of jewellery 1 not just superficially, but the element ofornamentation 5—as it can be seen in FIG. 3—is provided at a distancefrom the surface 3 of the body 2 of the article of jewellery 1, i. e.countersunk.

In order to be able to safely secure the element of ornamentation 5 inthe opening 4, which means to set the element of ornamentation 5 in thebody 2, it is then provided that the opening 4 of the body 2 of thearticle of jewellery 1 is formed as it can be seen in FIGS. 4 a-4 e:

As shown in FIG. 4 a, in the first step the opening 4 which in the casedescribed is formed as a through bore is applied to the body 2, wherebyit is provided that the diameter of the opening 4 is smaller than thediameter D of the element of ornamentation 5. This easily results from acomparison of FIGS. 4 a and 4 b.

In a subsequent step, schematically shown in FIG. 4 b, an upper portion4′ of the opening 4 of the body 2 of the article of jewellery 1 is thenenlarged, for example by counterboring or milling, to a diameter d′,which is at least equal to but preferably a little bit larger than thediameter D of the element of ornamentation 5 so that—as described later(see FIG. 4 d)—the element of ornamentation 5 can be brought into theupper portion 4′ of the opening 4.

A lower portion 4″ of the opening 4 is left unchanged, hence it stillhas a diameter d, so that between the lower portion 4″ with the diameterd and the upper portion 4′ with the diameter d′ a transition portion 6is formed. Hereby it is preferred that this transition portion 6 isformed conically. Generally a step-like transition portion may bepossible, too.

As it can be seen best in FIG. 4 d, the transition portion 6 now forms asupport 7 for the element of ornamentation 5 inserted into the opening4, so that the element of ornamentation 5 hereby cannot be inserted intothe opening 4 more deeply. The depth of localisation of the transitionportion 6 in the opening 4 in the body 2 of the article of jewellery 1therefore depends on the desired insertion depth of the element ofornamentation 5 in the opening 4. Depending on the form of the elementof ornamentation 5 the support 7 thus supports a lower edge 5′ of theelement of ornamentation 5 at least selectively, but preferably entirelycircumferentially, and in this way secures the element of ornamentation5 in the opening 4 at its bottom.

Preferably it is then provided that in a subsequent step—as can be seenin FIG. 4 c—a seat 8 is provided in the transition portion 6, acting asa protection against twisting of the element of ornamentation 5 is oneof the subsequent steps. But it is also possible that, depending on theform of the element of ornamentation 5 and the execution of thesubsequent steps the seat 8 may be omitted.

After the opening 4 has been formed as described above and the elementof ornamentation 5 has been inserted into the opening 4 and set onto thesupport 7 formed by the transition portion 6, a securing element 10,which is a setting for the element of ornamentation 5 in the body 2 ofthe piece of jewellery 1, is now formed, as it can be seen in FIGS. 4 dand 4 e, fixing in position the element of ornamentation 5 into anupward direction with this securing element 10 acting upon an upper edge5″ of the element of ornamentation 5. In the step shown in FIG. 4 d, thematerial of the body 2 of the article of jewellery is acted upon in anarea 11 surrounding the opening by reaming it with an appropriate toolW, preferably the one shown in FIG. 5 and described later.

This erosion of material is preferably executed by a procedure ofreaming, so that the material of the body 2 eroded from the area 11 iseroded by the reaming motion and is then transported towards the elementof ornamentation 5 and is there restabilized. As can be seen especiallyin FIG. 3 and in FIG. 4, in this way the securing element 10 is formedby the material that has been eroded from the area 11 and restabilizeddirectly adjacent to the element of ornamentation 5. By this securingelement 10 the element of ornamentation 5 is secured in position in theopening 4 at least selectively. It is preferred that the securingelement 10 is formed extending essentially or completely along the wholecircumference of the opening 4. Then in an advantageous way aparticularly safe support of the element of ornamentation 5 in theopening 4 is achieved. Hereby, in combination with the support 7, in aneasy way a setting for the element of ornamentation 5 in the opening 4of the body 2 of the article of jewellery 1 is achieved which providesfor a reliable support of the element of ornamentation 5 in the opening4.

As best is to be seen in FIG. 4 e, by the above described erosion ofmaterial a conical form of the area 11 surrounding the opening 4 isachieved. This in an advantageous way results in that the element ofornamentation 5—although it is accommodated deeply in the opening 4—hasan optically present appearance.

In FIG. 5 the tool W is shown in detail, which in FIG. 4 d is describedonly schematically. The tool W comprises a tool body W1 which has aninterior W2 wherein—as it can be seen in FIG. 4 d—the element ofornamentation may be accommodated. At its front face W′ the tool Wcomprises a reaming area W5 which is preferably divided into a pluralityof segments W3 and which preferably is formed inclined to the outersurface of the tool body W1. A shank W6 starting at the tool body W1permits a driven rotation of the tool W. The presented tool W is notonly suitable for the implementation of the method described above. Inan advantageous way it is also suitable for setting round stonesaccording to common techniques, since such elements of ornamentationtherewith may be reamed in more deeply than by means of conventionaltechniques, whereby the quality of this reaming procedure in comparisonwith known tools is enhanced by allowing to form the reaming boundarymore broadly and more exactly than commonly is possible, which then alsoleads to an improvement of the optical appearance.

1. An article of jewellery, in a body (2) of which an opening (4) isprovided in which an element of ornamentation (5) is accomodated, inparticular a precious stone or an ornamenting stone, wherein in saidopening (4) of said body (2) of said article of jewellery (1)accommodating said element of ornamentation (5) a support (7) for saidelement of ornamentation (5) is formed by which the depth of insertionof said element of ornamentation (5) in said opening (4) of said body(2) of said article of jewellery (1) is defined and by which a loweredge (5′) of said element of ornamentation (5) is supported at leastselectively, wherein said article of jewellery (1) comprises a securingelement (10) extending at least along a part of the circumference ofsaid opening (4), characterised in that said securing element (10) isformed by reaming said opening (4) of said body (2) of said article ofjewellery (1) in an area (11) surrounding said opening (4) andsubsequently stabilizing the material which was eroded from said area(11) surrounding said opening (4) of said body (2), that said securingelement (10) acts upon an upper edge (5″) of said element ofornamentation (5) at least selectively, and that said area (11)surrounding said opening (4) of said body (2) of said piece of jewellery(1) is at least partially bevelled.
 2. The article of jewelleryaccording to claim 1, characterised in that said securing element (10)is formed extending substantially along the whole circumference of saidopening (4).
 3. The article of jewellery according to claim 1,characterised in that said opening (4) comprises an upper portion (4′),which has a diameter (d′) which is larger than a diameter (D) of saidelement of ornamentation (5), and a lower portion (4″) with a diameter(d) which is smaller than said diameter (D) of said element ofornamentation (5).
 4. The article of jewellery according to one of theprevious claims, characterised in that between said upper portion (4′)and said lower portion (4″) of said opening (4) a transition portion (6)is formed which constitutes said support (7) for said element ofornamentation (5).
 5. The article of jewellery according to one of theprevious claims, characterised in that in said opening (4) a means (8)for protection against twisting of said element of ornamentation (5) isprovided.
 6. The article of jewellery according to one of the previousclaims, characterised in that said article of jewellery is formed as aring (1′), a pendant, a part of a link of a chain, as jewellery forears, as part of a clock or a watch, or of a watchband.
 7. A method formanufacturing an article of jewellery (1), especially a ring (1′), inthe body (2) of which an opening (4) is provided in which an element ofornamentation (5) is accommodated, in particular a precious stone or anornamenting stone, wherein said opening (4) provided in said body (2) ofsaid piece of jewellery (1) after a first step of said method has adiameter (d) which is smaller than said diameter (D) of said element ofornamentation (5) to be in inserted into said opening (4), wherein in asubsequent step an upper portion (4′) of said opening (4) is formed witha diameter (d′) which is equal to or larger than said diameter (D) ofsaid element of ornamentation (5), such that between said upper portion(4′) of said opening (4) with said diameter (d′) and a lower portion(4″) of said opening (4) with said smaller diameter (d) a transitionportion (6), serving as a support (7) for said element of ornamentation(5) is formed, that said element of ornamentation (5) is inserted intosaid opening (4) and set onto said support (7), whereby in a subsequentstep the material of said body (2) of said article of jewellery (1) iseroded in an area (11) surrounding said opening (4) and that said erodedmaterial is brought to said element of ornamentation (5) accommodated insaid opening (4) of said body (2), characterised in that the erosion ofmaterial in said area (11) of said opening (4) is executed by reamingsaid area (11) surrounding said opening (4), that a securing element(10) for said element of ornamentation (5) is formed from the sucheroded and later restabilized material such that an upper edge (5″) ofsaid element of ornamentation (5) is acted upon at least selectively bysaid such formed securing element (10), and thus said element ofornamentation (5) is fixed in position in said opening (4), and thatsaid area (11) surrounding said opening (4) is bevelled at leastpartially by this reaming.
 8. The method according to claim 7,characterised in that said securing element (10) is formed extendingsubstantially the whole circumference of said opening (4).
 9. The methodaccording to claim 8, characterised in that a means (8) for protectionagainst twisting of said element of ornamentation (5) is provided insaid support (7).
 10. A tool for the implementation of the methodaccording to one of claims 8 to 9, characterised in that said tool (W)comprises a tool body (W1) having an interior (W2), in which saidelement of ornamentation (5) may be accommodated and that said tool (W)comprises a reaming area (W5) at its front face (W′).
 11. The toolaccording to claim 10, characterised in that said reaming area (W5) isdivided into a plurality of segments (W3).
 12. The tool according toclaim 10, characterised in that said reaming area (W5) is formedextending inclined to said outer surface of the tool body (W1).
 13. Thetool according to one of claims 10 to 12, characterised in that saidtool body (W1) of said tool (W) is disposed at a shank (W6).